Plane Grounded In Turkey After Potential Sochi Terrorist Attack

Everyone’s greatest fears were almost realized, on Feb. 7, when it was reported that an airplane was nearly hijacked by someone who claimed they had a bomb onboard and wanted to head to Sochi, Russia.

A potential terrorist attack almost took place on Feb. 7, when a person attempted to hijack a Pegasus Airline plane and head to Sochi, Russia where the Winter Olympics are being held, according to CNN Turk.

Potential Terrorist Attack At Sochi Winter Olympics

The report claims that someone attempted to hijack the airplane headed to Turkey but was unsuccessful.

“While the plane was in the air, one of the passengers said that there was a bomb on board and asked the plane to not land in Sabiha Gokcen (in Turkey) but rather to land in Sochi,” Transportation Ministry official Habip Soluk told CNN.

The 110 passengers are still on the airplane. Little is known about the potential hijacker except that he is of Ukrainian nationality.

The plane sent a hijacking signal, and then landed at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport. The plane had been flying in from Ukraine.

Security Concerns At Sochi Olympics

Prior to the inception of the Sochi Games, several U.S. officials expressed concern over legitimate terrorist threats. “There are a number of varying degrees of credibility that we’re tracking,” Matthew Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center said at a hearing. “We’re working very closely with the Russians and with other partners to monitor any threats we see and to disrupt those.”

Another U.S. representative, Rep. Mike Rogers, admitted that he wasn’t sure the Russian government was doing everything to ensure safety at the Olympics. “They’re not at 100%,” he said. “They really should be when it comes to peoples’ lives at the Games, and we know that it’s such a high-threat environment.”